Broken
by CharmedAngelicAngel
Summary: Not good at the summarry thing... L/C.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I don't own any of the characters that belong to ABC or James Patterson. Please read and review. I am also looking for help. I am a freshman in college. So any pointers or any ideas can be emailed to me at One

Hurt

Cindy Thomas winced as she dragged herself off of the floor. Her boyfriend Travis had come home drunk again and beaten her for not having dinner on the table when he had come in the door. She walked slowly to the bathroom holding her ribs to assess the damage. This wasn't the first time he had done this. He came home frequently and either hit her or passed out wherever he happened to land. He never hit her face so there would be no unwanted questions. He wasn't always like this. It didn't start until he had lost his job when his company had done a huge layoff 6 months ago. Now he was a UPS truck driver, a job he hated. After work every day he'd go to the bar and come home either passing out or take his drunken anger on her. Around her friends however he was the perfect boyfriend attentive and loving. He also had never hit her in the face in order to prevent any unwanted questions.

"Ouch," Cindy winced out noticing the big bruise on her side. Luckily none of her ribs seemed to be broken. Cindy looked down at her watch and swore. She had to meet Lindsey, Jill, and Claire at Papa Joe's in 20 minutes for dinner. She refreshed her make-up and made her way quietly out the door as to not wake-up Travis where he had passed out on the couch.

* * *

"Hi Cindy," said Jill when Cindy walked up to their regular table and slid in next to Claire.

"Hi everyone," responded Cindy wincing a little when she hit the table trying not to gasp out loud.

"You ok?" asked Lindsay noticing the slight wince.

"Yea just me being clutzy, ran into a table," Cindy answered thinking fast.

"How's the boyfriend?" asked Jill.

"Fine," answered Cindy as Claire handed her a menu to peruse.

"Can you order me a cheeseburger and fries? I have to run to the restroom," Cindy asked Claire.

"Sure honey," answer Claire. Claire had taken a real liking to Cindy right away and treated her like a long lost daughter. Cindy made her way slowly to the bathroom.

"Order me the same you guys, I'm just going to go check on her," said Lindsey getting up to follow Cindy. Lindsey had a feeling something wasn't right Cindy wasn't being her normal bubbly bouncy self. When Lindsey walked into the bathroom Cindy was standing at the sink with her shirt up and on her side was a huge bruise.

"Cindy!" Lindsey gasped loudly. Cindy turned around with a look of horror on her face and a few tears in her eyes. "What happened?" she asked walking towards Cindy to more closely examine the bruise on her side.

"Nothing," said Cindy quickly covering the bruise back up with her shirt.

"You know you aren't a very good liar," responded Lindsay looking at Cindy suspiciously. Lindsay thought about all the possibilities where Cindy wouldn't exactly be forthcoming with what happened. She looked up in shock at Cindy. "Did he hit you?" growled Lindsay her eyes flashing with anger at the possibility that someone had hit this trusting and loving individual. Cindy looked down not looking Lindsay in the eyes. "Cindy, please talk to me I won't let him hurt you I promise," Lindsay said gently. Cindy instantly crumpled into Lindsay's arms crying. Lindsay surprised, held the sobbing red headed reporter. "Shhhh…it's ok," said Lindsay trying her best to calm Cindy. She wasn't good at this type of thing Claire and even Jill were much better.

Cindy finally pulled away from Lindsay wiping the last of her tears away. "Sorry," she whispered looking down in embarrassment at her break down especially in front of Lindsay.

"Its ok, how long has he been hitting you?" asked Lindsay firmly.

"6 months," Cindy mumbled.

"Cindy! Why didn't you come and talk to one of us?" We would have helped you," said Lindsay. "Come on let's go back to the table before Claire and Jill send out a search party," Lindsay said leading Cindy out of the bathroom and back to the table.

"What's wrong?" Claire immediately asked noticing the tear tracks on Cindy's face.

"Go ahead show them," Lindsay said leaving her hand on Cindy's back. Cindy lifts up her and shows the bruise on her side to Jill and Claire both gasp in surprise.

"What happened?" asked Jill.

"Travis uh…he hit me tonight when he was….uh drunk," Cindy stammered out. Both Jill and Claire looked surprised.

"Come here sweetie let me see it make sure nothing is broken," said Claire beckoning Cindy to slide in next to her. "This might hurt a little I just want to make sure your ribs aren't broken," Claire said gently pushing softly where Cindy's bruise was.

"How long?" asked Jill sternly which shocked Cindy, her and Jill had always gotten along pretty well but they weren't super close and Jill sounded ready to kill him just as much as Lindsay seemed to want to.

"About six months," Cindy mumbled gasping a little when Claire pushed on her rib a little too hard.

"Six months?!?!" yelped out Jill. "Why didn't you come and talk to one of us?" she asked.

"He threatened to kill you guys if I ever tried to leave him or told anyone what he did to me," Cindy responded holding back tears. "I could never let that happen no matter," said Cindy wiping away her tears.

"Awe sweetie we would have found a way to protect you. We are your friends and that is what we are here for," Claire said pushing Cindy's hair out of her face.

"You'll stay with me tonight," Lindsay said firmly making it clear there was to be no arguments about this.

"But…," Cindy started to protest.

"No buts Cindy we can't take the chance he'll hurt you again," said Lindsay interrupting Cindy.

"I need clothes," Cindy said giving up arguing with the headstrong inspector.

"Ok but I am going with you," Lindsay responded.

Cindy smiled adoringly up at the inspector and nodded her head. She didn't know when it happened or why it happened but she was falling for the stunning inspector. It just wasn't a physical attraction she loved the protectiveness she had of her friends, her sense of humor, her caring heart even though she tried to hide her feelings for the fear of getting hurt, even her stubbornness and sarcasm. Problem is, as far as she can tell Lindsay is straight and probably would never be interested in her anyway.

"Will you two be ok or do you want me to come also?" Jill asked concerned for their red headed friend. She didn't miss the look Cindy gave Lindsay and knew what it meant. It was hard not to like the inspector. She will even admit to liking Lindsay at one point but that was before she fell head over heels for Luke. Then she made the huge mistake of cheating on him with that jerk Hanson. Now she was living on Claire's couch.

"Yea do you want us to go with you?" Claire asked also noticing the look. It concerned her a little bit her always being the motherly one of the group. Lindsay had the capability of hurting the fiery red head not intentionally of course.

"Nah, you guys can head home I'll watch over her," Lindsay said looking over at Cindy. Claire and Jill just nodded their heads wondering if by chance Lindsay could feel the same way about Cindy that Cindy seemed to feel about her.

To Be Continued?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Bed Time

"So I figure I can follow you to your house and then we can ride over to my house in my car," Lindsay said after they had waved good bye to Jill and Claire.

"Um…ok well won't Travis find it weird if I'm gone tomorrow and my car isn't?" asked Cindy walking towards her little red car.

"Yeah you are right. I suppose you are going to have to follow me to my house," said Lindsay.

"Ok just follow me and I'll see you at my house," Cindy said getting in her car.

* * *

"You can just stay down here and I'll be right back with clothes," Cindy said when they pulled up to her apartment.

"No way you aren't going up there alone," said Lindsay shaking her head firmly.

"Lindsay it could be dangerous," said Cindy. "And I don't want you getting hurt," she added in a low whisper looking down at her feet suddenly finding them very interesting.

"That's sweet but I am a cop I think I can handle myself," Lindsay said reassuringly to Cindy using her finger to tilt Cindy's chin up to look at her. Cindy sucked in a breath and flinched a little at being touched. Lately she wasn't use to be touched so gently. "Besides, I don't want you going up there alone," Lindsay added.

"Ok, he passed out on the couch earlier tonight after he hit me, so that's where he should still be," said Cindy knowing there would be no use arguing with the inspector. She looked down ashamed that she let herself get into such a physically, emotionally, and mentally abusive relationship.

"Let's go, we'll just have to be quiet. All you need tonight is a change of clothes we can get the rest of your stuff later preferably when he isn't around," Lindsay said taking Cindy's hand gently. Cindy shivered slightly at the touch from the inspector but not enough for Lindsay to notice it.

Cindy leads Lindsay up into the 2 room apartment quietly. She leaves Lindsay by the door and tiptoes to the bedroom to grab her stuff for the night. She notices that Travis is still passed out on the couch. She also notices that Lindsay has her hand a lot closer to her gun then it was before. Cindy grabs her clothes for the next day and pajamas. She then ran and grabbed her toothbrush from the bathroom.

"Ready?" asked Lindsay.

"Yep let's go," Cindy said grabbing her laptop and taking one last look at Travis before following Lindsay out of the apartment.

"The couch pulls out to a pretty comfortable bed you can have that for the night," Lindsay said pointing to the couch in the middle of the room. "I'll give you some sheets and blankets," she added reaching down to pet Martha who had come up to greet them at the door.

"Ok um may I use your bathroom to get ready for bed?" Cindy asked also reaching down to pet Martha who was brushing against her legs looking for attention.

"Sure just down the hall," Lindsay said pointing.

"Thanks," said Cindy nodding her head and making her way towards the bathroom. Lindsay went to the kitchen to feed Martha and give her fresh water. Cindy came out of the bathroom a few minutes later in a pair of grey sweatpants and a pink long sleeved shirt. Her red hair was in a messy bun and her make-up was taken off. Lindsay had never seen Cindy without her reporter attire on. And it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She quickly shook those thoughts out of her head. She had been thinking about the red head a little too much lately and not necessarily in a friendly way. As far as she could tell Cindy was straight and if she wasn't probably wouldn't want to date her anyway. She wasn't known to exactly be forthcoming with her feelings and tended to shut down a lot. It came with being a cop for so long.

"All done," Cindy said making sure her sleeves covered another one of her secrets. A frightening one and it wasn't the only one. Her biggest concern was making sure Lindsay and the others never found out about the other two.

"Want something to drink?" Lindsay asked.

"Actually I'm wiped if you just tell me where the sheets are I'm going to go to bed if that's ok with you," Cindy said rubbing her eyes.

"Yea sure that's fine. I can grab the sheets and other stuff for you they are just in my bedroom closet," Lindsay said thinking to herself that Cindy looked pretty cute when she was rubbing her eyes, almost innocent. "Here you go," said Lindsay handing Cindy a sheet for the bed, blankets, and two pillows from her closet.

"Thanks," Cindy said giving Lindsay a small smile.

"No problem. Good night Cindy," Lindsay said giving a smile in return, a rarity. Lindsay definitely wasn't the one to give fake niceties.

"Night Lindsay," Cindy replied. She then left the room to get the pull out couch ready to sleep. Lindsay also got ready for bed. Both had work in the morning.

Both eventually fell into a peaceful sleep but it wouldn't last long.

To be continued?

Ok I know, it's kind of dark. All my stories seem to be. It's how I deal with my daily stress so if you don't like a tiny bit of darkness then don't read it. I have already started chapter 3, a great activity in my 75 minute Music 100 lecture. I hope you enjoy this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Comfort

A shrill scream rang out in the quiet night of San Francisco at Inspector Boxer's house. Cindy sat up in a cold sweat from her nightmare. Lindsay came running into the room naturally with her gun. "What happened?" she asked Cindy and then she noticed the tears running steadily down her cheeks and her body was shaking from sobs. Lindsay hesitated a second, she wasn't good at comforting people. She wasn't even good at receiving comfort. She stepped up to comfort Jill a few times and vice versa but they had known each other a long time.

"Just a nightmare," Cindy answered wiping her tears away and desperately trying to stop them from falling and stop her body from shaking. Lindsay crawled on the pull out bed and wrapped her arms around Cindy's waist from behind. Cindy immediately tensed at the gentle touch.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you," said Lindsay soothingly keeping a tight but gentle grip around her. Cindy slightly relaxed back against Lindsay soaking up the feeling of being held by the inspector. They sat in silence while Cindy slowly started to calm down and relax further into Lindsay's arms until Lindsay noticed the scratches on Cindy's arms where her pj sleeves had ridden up her arms. "What happened to your arms?" she asked.

"I uh…," Cindy stuttered quickly covering her arms with her pj sleeves. She looks down avoiding Lindsay's piercing gaze.

"Cindy tell me," Lindsay voiced sternly.

"I cut myself," Cindy whispered almost so quietly that the inspector couldn't hear her.

Lindsay's eyes widened in shock, "You cut yourself?" she asked to make sure she heard her.

"Yes," mumbled Cindy still not meeting the eyes of the inspector and now suddenly squirming in her arms.

"Cindy you should know that is never the answer for anything," Lindsay said soothingly stroking Cindy's hair softly.

"It helps me forget release all emotional pain and transfer it into something I can actually feel," Cindy said. She didn't need a therapist to tell her this. She took enough psychology classes in college to know that much.

"Yes I get that but you still should have come to Jill, Claire, or I, that is what friends are for," Lindsay said still keeping a pretty tight hold around Cindy.

"Yes Lindsay I know that now. I just sometimes wonder if you guys really like me or you just put up with me because I annoyed you guys so much," Cindy said wiggling a little nervously. Lindsay didn't know what to say. It was true that at first she was hesitant towards the red head but that was her way of making sure that Cindy would stick around and not just leave.

"You were…are very persistent which is not necessarily a bad quality. I just wasn't use to someone being more stubborn and hard-headed then I was," explained Lindsay. "And now if there is any doubt in your mind then you better shake it right now because now I can't imagine our group without you," she told Cindy being surprisingly honest to quell her doubts.

"Oh," said Cindy surprised at Lindsay's honesty.

"What was your nightmare about?" asked Lindsay tightening her arms around Cindy slightly. Cindy sighed and looked up into Lindsay's concerned dark brown eyes.

"It wasn't a normal a nightmare more like a memory," Cindy whispered not wanting to lie to Lindsay after her bout of honesty towards her.

"And the memory was about?" asked Lindsay.

"Travis raped me," whispered Cindy almost so low Lindsay almost didn't hear it.

"He WHAT!?" exclaimed Lindsay loudly. Cindy immediately tensed up started to pull away.

"He was drunk one night and he decided he wanted me. I told him no but when he wants something there isn't a lot that I can do to stop him," explained Cindy pulling out of Lindsay's arms and moving away from her. Lindsay just sat there in shock trying to figure out how she could have missed this. "It's not your fault, I went out of my way to hide it from all of you guys," Cindy said as if reading Lindsay's mind.

"Come here," Lindsay said holding out her arms. Cindy hesitated and Lindsay saw this and pulled Cindy into her arms. She tensed at the sudden touch. Lindsay just waited it out by holding Cindy close and rubbing her back. When Cindy eyes started to droop she whispered, "Come on hun my bed is bigger," into Cindy's ear. Cindy just nodded her head knowing arguing would do no good with the stubborn inspector. When they got into bed Cindy stayed close to the far side not wanting to crowd Lindsay but she had other ideas and pulled Cindy close to her. Cindy sighed in contentment and let herself relax into the strong and warm body. A few minutes later Lindsay heard the steady breathing of the girl in her arms signaling she was sleeping and soon Lindsay followed her.

To Be Continued?

A/N: Sorry for the delay it's been a busy couple of weeks. Hopefully I will get the next chapter up sooner than this one. I again apologize. Have a good weekend everyone!!


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